The Electoral Commissioner for the just concluded NASSIT Staff Association elections, Mr. Mohamed Jusu Banya has officially presented the newly elected President to the Director-General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh. The elections, which took place on Monday 25 March 2019, saw Ms. Patricia Osuwo emerge as the winner. Giving a background to the elections, the Electoral Commissioner expressed his satisfaction over the conduct and outcome of the election.
He said the election was free, fair and transparent and did not record any incident. He informed the Director-General that his commissioners with representatives from each candidate manned each polling station. “These representatives were present throughout the electioneering process and conducted themselves professionally”, he explained.
Mr. Jusu Banya further intimated the Director-General that Three Hundred and Twenty-Five (325) votes were cast out of Three Hundred and Forty-Six (346) registered voters. Madam Patricia Osuwo scored One Hundred and Eighty-Seven (187), which constituted 54.5% while Mr. Mohamed Ken Sesay scored One Hundred Thirty-Seven (137) amounting to 39.02% of the votes cast Responding, the Director-General expressed his gratitude to the general staff and the Electoral Commission for the manner in which they conducted the entire process and congratulated Madam Osuwo on her victory. He reminded the meeting that the Staff Association is a component of NASSIT and not a rivalry to NASSIT Management. “You are representing a major constituent in the affairs of the scheme and therefore very strategic and key to the success of the Trust. As you come in as a new staff association coincidentally, we are also new management. I encourage you to take advantage of such coincidence”, he advised. The Director-General expressed how passionate he was to see women in strategic positions of Trust, as he was always confident they would deliver. He reiterated that the mindset that “everything should just be men” should have no place in a civilized society. He admonished the newly elected president that much is expected of her and that she should not disappoint her colleagues particularly women who see her as their identity.
Mr. Daboh used the occasion to appeal to the President-elect to use her presidency to change the mindset of her constituents that “business as usual” is over at NASSIT. “The time for change has come and all should leap to join the train of change or else they will fall by the wayside, the Director-General emphasized. He assured the president of his continued support and asked her to be always willing to accommodate him. To demonstrate his support, the Director-General instructed his Executive Assistant to inform Accounts to commence the deduction of his salary as a contribution to the Association, and to arrange for a dinner with the President-elect and her team. In her remarks, the President-elect of the staff Association, Ms. Patricia Osuwo expressed her appreciation to the Director-General for his unflinching support to the association, and his exemplary leadership, and to the Electoral Commissioner for conducting a free, fair and transparent elections.
Ms. Osuwo assured Management of exemplary leadership in the course of her tenure. She informed the Director-General that in her manifesto, she made it very clear to every staff that the association is not a union and not a rival to management but a mere association, which role is to negotiate for the wellbeing of her members but not to confront Management. “I was voted for on the platform of hard work, commitment, transparency, accountability, discipline and on the promise to BRING BACK THE NASSIT FAMILY”, she stated, while promising management that this platform would be her mantra and benchmark for the rest of her tenure.
“My watchword is lobbying and that lobbying is key to my success”, she concluded.